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*CALL FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS*

*HANDBOOK OF MULTI-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTIONS:*

*SPARKING AND SUSTAINING TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACHES*

*Editors: Mark Starik, University of Wisconsin System and Walden University*

*Gordon P. Rands, Western Illinois University*

*Patricia Kanashiro, Loyola University Maryland*

*Jonathan Deason, The George Washington University*

*Publisher:  Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd.*

*1-2 page proposals due August 15, 2021*

*Revised full manuscripts due February 1, 2022*

The editors and publisher listed above are announcing a Call for Proposal
Submissions on *Multi-Level Climate Actions* as an opportunity for
academics, practitioners, and other thought-and-action leaders to develop
and share their vision, knowledge, experience, and recommendations on what
has become one of the most pressing issues of our time --- the planet’s
climate emergency.  *Governments, businesses, nonprofits, networks,
professions, communities, households, and individuals around the world are
increasingly recognizing the vastness and complexity of the climate crisis.*
Ever-increasing and human-induced concentrations of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are now resulting in record
global temperatures and a full range of first-order calamities, including
rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, heat waves, increasingly frequent
natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, wildfires, and wind-related
storms, and ocean acidification, desertification, widespread destruction
and degradation of ecosystems, and decimation of biodiversity.  Such
environmental chaos can also trigger second- and third-order disastrous
effects, including armed conflicts, political chaos, increases in climate
refugees, life-threatening and worsening poverty and malnourishment and
other human health crises, such as pandemics and the spread of tropical
diseases, and a wide range of general social and economic severe damage.
The collection of evidence from researchers worldwide appears to point in
directions that, unless our species works together seriously, effectively,
and immediately, future generations of both humans, especially the most
disadvantaged among us, and the millions of other species with which we
share this planet, are fated for disastrous and tragic consequences.

Though a number of well-intentioned global agreements and actions at
multiple levels, including *the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement, regional compacts, national,
state and local government commitments, business, nonprofit, and community
programs, and household and individual efforts have attempted to move our
human civilization in the direction of climate sanity, their collective
impact has, so far, fallen far short* of achieving the results necessary to
prevent our persistent climate catastrophe from worsening, let alone
halting and/or reversing it.  What appears to be needed is a whole-species
*multi-level* approach to this cataclysm that requires the involvement of
as many of the entities listed above as possible both to enlist all others *at
each of those levels* and to collaborate and connect with *as many of those
levels* as possible.  Similarly, *multiple professions and academic
disciplines need to contribute to this multi-level climate action campaign*
to research, identify, and promote effective systems, technologies,
policies, innovations, incentives, plans, structures, agreements, programs,
and actions that can address head-on, and, hopefully, blunt, and eventually
resolve, the climate crisis.  Our intent is that this handbook becomes a
collection of informed and inspirational writings, thoughts, and strategies
that highlight what has been done, is being done, and still needs to be
done *on the many levels or scopes of human activity*, directed at renewing
the climate.  In addition, *we intend for these contributions to powerfully
illustrate how actions at each of these levels can be harmonized with those
at other levels*, so that synergies are created, gaps are filled, and
resources are shared and leveraged, all aimed at sustainably halting and
reversing the global climate crisis (see Starik & Rands, 1995; Starik &
Kanashiro, 2020).

*We envision a volume of double-blind, peer-reviewed inspirational
contributions authored by a wide range of academics, practitioners, and
others who focus on climate challenges and actions, particularly those
efforts that can be implemented at multiple levels of human activity*.  By
multiple levels, the editors mean the macro, exo, meso, micro, and other
scale or scope aspects of climate actions within any sector or realm,
including societies, ecologies, cultures, communities, governments,
businesses, and nonprofit organizations, down to the individual and
household level (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Hitt et al. 2007). Prospective
authors are advised to check one or more of the references at the end of
this Call for more information on multi-levels.  We also encourage
potential submitters to think broadly and innovatively about contributing a
conceptual or empirical article, essay, plan, review, interview, debate,
college or continuing education program, or other relevant format, climate
exigency solution description, analysis, and/or evaluation *in the range of
5K to 10K words as a final submission*. Please be aware that Edward Elgar
Publishing Ltd. encourages editors to ask each author to review at least
one other submission to the volume, and that all accepted submissions will
receive at least one other peer review.  *Listed below are just a few
examples of the topics that your contribution could address.*

*Multi-level Climate Action Science (Causes and Impacts)*

Highlighting the current status of global warming science, including the
multi-level aspects of climate change sources, impacts, influences,
measurement, and/or reporting;



Identifying the multi-level impacts of one or more climate crisis impact
scenarios;

Addressing one or more levels of the climate impacts of a sector (such as
food) across its life-cycle (from planting and harvesting, through
processing [including transporting] and consuming, to waste management and
recycling);



*Multi-level Climate Action Goals, Policies, Strategies, Systems, &
Structures*

Assessing the potential of carbon taxation, fee and dividend, cap and
trade, or other carbon-reduction policies at one or more levels (local,
regional, global);

Analyzing the need, benefits, and risks of geo-engineering approaches to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate effects, at one or more
levels;

Assessing carbon reduction strategies of electric and natural gas utilities
and suppliers at one or more levels;

Appraising the multi-level, climate action-related aspects of the U.N.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including from one or more
geographic/cultural perspectives.

Appraising the potential effectiveness of one or more of the goals set by
the Paris Climate Accord and the multi-level actions needed to achieve
it/them

Assessing the effectiveness and potential impacts of multi-stakeholder
partnerships in developing and implementing climate mitigation policies and
strategies



*Multi-Level Climate Action Tools & Processes*

Identifying and analyzing the advantages and challenges of multi-level
climate change mitigation and adaptation (and combination) projects,
including their related GHG management assurance and information systems;

Conducting energy audits at one or more levels (micro, meso, macro);

Developing energy efficiency or renewable energy financial or other plans
at one or more levels;

Assessing and advancing electrification approaches at one or more levels in
the transportation, building, and manufacturing sectors; and,

Advancing climate action and collaboration in one or more sectors, such as
finance, manufacturing, transportation, construction, tourism, and
services, at multiple levels;



*Multi-level Climate Education, Research, & Advocacy*

Incorporating climate action in multiple levels of education (primary,
secondary, higher, and continuing) and research courses, programs, degrees
and institutes;

Enhancing the effectiveness of various sectors (the media, religion,
business, NGOs, etc.) in increasing public understanding of the climate
crisis and support for climate action;

Assessing and advancing various approaches to counter climate deniers
claims and influence;

Evaluating and enhancing the role of social marketing approaches to
changing individuals climate behaviors



*Multi-level Climate Action Behaviors*

Participating in reforestation or sustainable agriculture efforts at one or
more levels;

Recruiting volunteers for climate organizations that lobby on one or more
levels;

Assessing the mitigation potential of various individual level climate
behaviors and identifying multi-sectoral and multi-level actions that could
increase participation in these behaviors and/or enhance their impacts.

Assessing the mitigation effectiveness and potential of various group-level
voluntary direct actions (such as tree-planting) in one or more sectors



*Multi-level Climate Action Values*

Reviewing several climate works (non-fiction or fiction; in-print or
audio-video) to glean climate action suggestions at one or more levels;

Examining and increasing multi-level contributions of spiritual movements
and/or religious organizations to climate action;

Advocating for current and future climate refugees and other populations
most affected by climate change locally, regionally, and/or globally;

Examining the impacts of anthropocentric vs. eco-centric arguments for
climate action.



*Multi-level Climate Action, Other, & Multiple Approaches*

Exploring multi-level solutions to climate-related high rates of human
consumption and population;

Suggesting multi-level carbon reductions strategies in all organizational
functions, including both “line” and “staff” functions in both internal and
external supply chains;

Envisioning multi-level cultural changes in perception, in livelihoods,
and/or in human existence that would lead to any and all necessary climate
actions;

Advocating for reduced climate-related human utilization and development of
the planet’s biosphere to allow the planet’s many other species to exist
and thrive;

Exploring how multi-level climate actions might change over time.



*Noteworthy Information and Dates:*

Chapter proposals (submissions) should include a *title, brief description,
and a rationale *explaining the importance of your proposed chapter to this
volume, including its multi-level focus.  Please include *name, title,
position, and affiliation of all contributing authors* (select one
corresponding author and include their e-mail).  Proposals should be no
longer than *1-2 pages, single-spaced*, in Word document format. *Please
submit your proposal to *[log in to unmask] *by August 15, 2021.*

*August 15, 2021:*  *1-2 page proposal summary/abstract due (in MS Word)*

*September 1, 2021:*  Proposal summaries returned to author(s) with editor
feedback

*November 15, 2021:*  *5,000 – 10,000 word submissions due (in MS Word)*

*December 29, 2021:*  Submissions returned with editor and reviewer feedback

*February 1, 2022:*  *Revised manuscripts due (in MS Word)*

*Fall, 2022:*  Final Publication date TBD (Hardcopy, Paperback, and
Electronic)

We are excited to receive your submission(s), which we ask that you please
send to editor Patricia Kanashiro at ([log in to unmask]),  In addition,
please feel free to contact editor Mark Starik at [log in to unmask] or
 +1-240-644-7842 (Central Time) to explore your multi-level climate action
ideas of interest.

*References:*

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). *The ecology of human development: Experiments
by nature and design*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hitt, M., Beamish, P.W., Jackson, S.E., and Mathieu, J.E. 2007. Building
theoretical and empirical bridges across levels: Multilevel research in
management. *Academy of Management Journal*. Volume 50 (6): 1385-1399.

Starik, M., & Rands, G.P. 1995. Weaving an integrated web: Multilevel and
multisystem perspectives of ecologically sustainable organizations. *Academy
of Management Review*, Volume 20 (4): 908-935.

Starik, M. & Kanashiro, P. 2020. Advancing a multi-level sustainability
management theory.  In Wasieleski, D. & Weber, J. (eds.) *Business and
Society 360 Part IV Sustainability*. Emerald Press.  June 17-42.
https://doi.org/10.1108/S2514-175920200000004003

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